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UK Stocks Rises for the Third Day Since Turn of the Week, Glencore Leads Miners Higher

U.K stocks, the FTSE 100 UKX climbs higher for the third day this week following Asian equities gain. The FTSE 100 UKX closed at 6,229.01 on Wednesday marking a total of 1.35 percent gain marking this as the best performance week since April this year. The gain comes after officials from China release a statement reassuring investors regarding China's economic growth.

With only three stocks in FTSE 100 UKX down yesterday, the gain was led by Hargreaves Lansdown Plc which moves 7 percent after reporting an increase in its client asset according to Bloomberg. Following the gain is Ryanair Holding Plc with 4.9 percent gain. Basic resources stock is also gaining with Glencore Plc leading the group closed with 2.9 percent gain on Wednesday.

Glencore Plc stock slowly gaining following its announcement to cut debt and reduce the copper mining operation in Africa. The company will suspend two mines soon forcing 400,000 tonnes of copper supply out of the market. The company is also planning to sell its assets and issue new shares as their strategy to cut debt. It plans to raise $2.5 billion from the share and will cut down its debt to $20 billion before 2018. The company is also suspending its dividend for the time being.  

However, Daily Mail reported that the Glencore's stock is still trading at a low price after its stock's price plunge more than 50 percent hitting record lows last week. With China, the biggest metals consumer economic is still in the grey area, commodities such as copper and coal price are slowly declining reflecting the low demand for the product. It is expected that the price of this commodities will remain low according to an analyst.

Besides Glencore, other copper producer region also saw their stock surging up this week. Antofagasta's stock gain 6.9 percent making it the top gainer in the sectorial list. The gain also boost the STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources Index by 1.7 percent.

According to Market Watch, China's finance ministry had issued a statement reassuring that the government will take more proactive measure to stimulate the economy. Shinzo Abe also announces in a press conference that the country's corporate tax will be reduced by 3.3 percent over two years to stimulate growth.

China stock market was closed for two days last week due to the end of World War Two celebration. Shanghai index climb 1.8 percent when it re-opened on Monday but failed to last as it still closed with a loss.


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